Public Health seminar series—Intentionally Infecting Humans: Is it ethical?

In controlled human infection (CHI) research, researchers intentionally expose people to pathogens to gain powerful scientific insights. CHI research has led to key breakthroughs but remains controversial, particularly when it was used in the COVID-19 pandemic to infect participants with SARS-CoV-2. In this talk, I will first provide a brief historical overview of this research, demonstrating how ethically problematic research from the past still casts a shadow on research today. I will then explain modern CHI research, demonstrating how a fundamental lack of understanding of this research contributed to ethical controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic that has persisted. I will provide an ethical framework to govern the appropriate use of this research going forward, and show how that to apply it in practice. Finally, I will discuss the implications of this work for some controversies in CHI research, along with research ethics oversight more generally.

Featuring:
Seema K Shah, JD
Founders' Board Professor of Medical Ethics
Professor of Pediatrics
Professor, School of Law
Northwestern University

Cost: Free

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